Schools Chancellor Aviles-Ramos Celebrates Year-End Achievements

NEW YORK— New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos today marked the end of her first year leading New York City Public Schools with a comprehensive overview of meaningful signature initiatives and program expansions. With full support from Mayor Adams, Chancellor Aviles-Ramos has ensured safety and promoted wellness with the launch of NYCPS Cares; strengthened comprehensive teacher supports through new teaching opportunities and curriculum access; and fostered genuine and impactful family and community empowerment with family connectors. As the 2024-25 school year concludes, these achievements reflect the city’s steadfast commitment to improving education, encouraging innovation, and equipping students for a bold future. These priorities expand upon the agency’s foundational goals while addressing critical components of effective learning environments.

“In just one school year, Chancellor Avilés-Ramos brought bold leadership and an unwavering commitment to public education — prioritizing school safety, investing in more individualized care for students, and building authentic connections with families and communities,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “As we close out the 2024–2025 school year, these accomplishments underscore our administration’s deep investment in working families, equity, and creating learning environments that prepare every student for a bright, bold future.”

"My first year has been focused on pursuing transformative change in our schools,” said Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos. “From empowering families to reimagining college and career pathways to expanding proven reading and math programs through NYC Reads and Solves, we’re not just talking about equity – we’re delivering on it. Every decision we’ve made centers on our core belief that every child deserves a safe, inclusive learning environment where they can thrive academically and personally. I look forward to building on this year’s success in the upcoming school year.”

Key highlights from Chancellor Aviles-Ramos's first year include:

ENSURING SAFETY AND PROMOTING WELLNESS

Supported student mental and physical health with targeted campaigns: As part of her signature initiative, NYCPS Cares, NYCPS launched a student-led anti-bullying and anti-vaping campaign. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, this bold campaign will equip students with real tools, training, and opportunities to lead, with a focus on peer-to-peer advocacy, culturally relevant messaging, and youth leadership development. Through hands-on training, students will gain the knowledge and confidence they need to take a stand against bullying — with a particular focus on cyberbullying, and vaping.

Empowered and Supported Children with Disabilities to Become More Independent: Launched the Student Safety & Independence Training Program for Families, a new pilot initiative designed to empower families of children with disabilities and to teach and reinforce community safety, including confident use of public transportation and pedestrian routes. This free program teaches families to support their child with skills to travel independently, fosters family engagement through shared learning experiences, and reflects New York City Public Schools’ commitment to building an inclusive and equitable school system and city.

STRENGTHENING COMPREHENSIVE TEACHER SUPPORTS

Expanded NYC Reads and NYC Solves, Will Reach Nearly Half a Million Students: Building upon its initial success, NYCPS expanded NYC Reads and NYC Solves to 186 additional schools across 14 districts, expanding high-quality, evidence-based foundational reading and math curricula to middle school students across the five boroughs. With this expansion, over 490,000 students will benefit from NYC Reads and NYC Solves by the 2025-2026 school year.

Embraced Diversity with Hidden Voices: Jewish Americans: This pilot resource will be distributed to all schools for the 2025-26 school year, with five districts concurrently participating in a pilot to provide feedback and strengthen the use of these resources in the classroom. These materials are designed to be integrated with our Passport to Social Studies and Civics for All curricula. This new curricular resource will feature a diverse array of Jewish Americans who have made important contributions to our city, country, and world.

Launched Partnership to Promote Inclusion Through Film and Art: Through this first-of-its-kind partnership for ReelAbilities Film Festival, all NYCPS educators will have free and unlimited access to fiction and nonfiction films created by and for individuals with disabilities that focus on disability and deaf culture. Educators will also have access to companion lesson plans and discussion guides designed for each film. Since the launch of DIAL last year, this partnership builds on the Adams’ administration’s work to create a more inclusive environment for our students with disabilities.

Announced Over 3,700 New Teacher Opportunities: As part of Mayor Adams' FY26 Executive Budget, NYCPS announced that nearly 750 schools were supported in hiring over 3,700 teachers to reduce class sizes. Following a careful joint review of hundreds of schools' proposed plans by NYCPS, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), this investment supports increased compliance with the class size law for the 2025-2026 school year, utilizing a school-driven framework for class size reduction.

Launched Library Advisory Committees: Through the VITAL (Vital Instructional Transformative Accessible Learning) Libraries Grant, winning schools are awarded $50,000 to transform their library programs. This year, NYCPS launched the Library Advisory Committees as part of the grant, aimed at developing sustainable school library programs that directly benefit and empower their students. The VITAL Libraries initiative aims to reimagine school libraries in high-need environments by enhancing their function, purpose, and overall potential.

Held Schools Harmless in Response to Enrollment Fluctuations Saving Schools $157 million in Funding Loss: NYCPS announced that school budgets would be held harmless for mid-year enrollment losses for the 2024-25 school year. To guarantee that the investment in schools met the community's immediate needs, school leaders received personalized support from their field team budget directors in budget and procurement matters. These supports varied from one-on-one meetings to school budget reviews and ensured that school funds were used within the current fiscal year and complied with NYCPS procurement regulations.

Opened Seven New Schools Adding More than 3,842 New Seats in Fall 2025: Announced the opening of seven innovative new schools for the 2025-26 school year located across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. This significant milestone is a realization of the Adams administration's promise to provide expanded access to career technical education and better support students with print-based learning disabilities while continuing to increase seat capacity in neighborhoods with overcrowded schools. These schools are:

• The Bronx STEAM Center, All Bronx Districts, Grades 9-12
• Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy, District 17, Grades 2-8
• Middle School of Innovation, District 21, Grades 6-8
• HBCU Early College Prep High School, District 29, Grades 9-12
• Northwell School of Health Sciences, District 30, Grades 9-12
• Queens International Secondary School, District 24, Grades 6-12
• Staten Island Rise Academy, District 75, Grades K-8
  

Opened District 17’s First Inclusive Early Childcare Center: Mayor Adams and NYCPS announced the opening of P.S. 6’s inclusive early childhood education annex, the first-of-its-kind for the Brooklyn district. The new annex will open for the 2025-2026 school year and will serve general education students and students with autism and other disabilities. It features the district’s first-ever AIMS classroom and is fully equipped to serve the unique needs of its incoming students.

FOSTERING GENUINE AND IMPACTFUL FAMILY AND COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

Launched NYCPS Cares, Signature Initiative to Address Systemic Inequities: Schools Chancellor Aviles-Ramos announced her signature initiative, NYCPS Cares, a suite of signature initiatives designed to address systemic inequities, promote safer and more supportive school communities, and empower families through improved access to city resources. Rooted in equity, NYCPS Cares launched a multi-phased rollout that included the Family Connectors initiative — designed to strengthen the connection between families, schools, and city services.

Established Long-term Commitment of Nearly $170M in Funding for Early Childhood Education Programs: In a joint effort, the Adam’s administration made a historic $167M investment through his upcoming FY26 Executive Budget to support young children and their families and strengthen funding to preserve and protect critical early childhood education programming. These investments include committing — for the first time — to annual funding for a citywide 3-K expansion and for pre-K students with disabilities to ensure continuity.

Expanded Language Access Services by Adding Three New Covered Languages: NYCPS announced the expansion of the number of covered languages for translation of critical information from nine to twelve. This change came as part of proposed amendments to Chancellor’s Regulation A-663 that were approved by the Panel for Educational Policy, and ensures more families have access to the information they need to support their child’s education.